4 Ways to Survive a Not-So-Great Date by Whitney Casey

December 8, 2011

Let’s face it- no matter where or how you met, there’s always a chance that the first date with someone new could be a dud. Though it may sound defeating, the pros of putting yourself out there and dating vastly outweigh the cons. To make the best of any dull date, use these tips from our relationship expert, Whitney Casey:

1. Bon Appétit!

Always pick a place where a) you know you love the food, or b) you’ve been dying to check out. That way no matter what the night leads to, you will eat a good meal and/or check that spot off your list of places you’ve wanting to try! You’ll avoid wasting your time and money if you head to a desirable spot. If it isn’t dinner, the same formula fits for coffee, dessert, movies, art exhibits etc. Either revisit some place you already like or check somewhere off your “to do” list.

2. Cliff’s Notes

No matter how lackluster your date is there is always something he/she knows that you don’t! If you realize the two of you are incompatible (yet you have the entire to dinner to sit through), start asking a few questions about their hobbies, passions or studies. Say your date is a huge wine aficionado– let them teach you all about wine production, how to sniff and swirl, or about wine paring. You could learn a lot while doing very little digging on your own! Your date has already done the research on something, and they are sitting across from you ready to give you the Cliff’s notes version. One date and you could be a mini expert in something.

3. Practice Make Perfect

If you know the date has gone south, try some new dating techniques. Consider your body language cues: Do you have your arms folded in an unwelcoming way? Are you facing away from the person? Work on fixing these bad habits that can send the wrong signals to your date off the bat. Also use this time to practice your conversation skills by asking a few conversation starters like: What is your favorite time of year? Where would you go if you could go anywhere in the world? If the conversation goes somewhere where you start to feel uncomfortable, practice some segues that can help you get out of conversations you don’t want to be having.

4. Grace Under Fire

No matter how bad you think your date is going, rudeness is never an option. Always respect your date; like your mother said: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Despite the fact that this is the “Golden rule”, you might want to adhere to this motto for another reason: the single’s community is usually a “tight-knit group”. If the word gets out that you were impolite, ungrateful or disrespectful, that will not translate well for your dance card. Bow out gracefully, or you could be missing out on many other opportunities to come!

Do you have any tactics for making a bad date better? Tell us in the comments below.

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stories about love at first site condition people to expect some magical connection with stars and fire works going off in your head. So anything less is a big let down. The problem is life isn’t like some silly romantic comedy. Most of the successful marriages I know of started out as a good friendships with little romantic interest in the beginning. These sites sale infatuation as love and romance. Infatuation fades but true friendship last forever.

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Again, check out our success site http://success.match.com- all the success stories on our blog come straight from the user-submitted site. Thanks!

http://howtogetyourexbackez.com/ Jill Hansen

Great post! I really enjoyed reading your article. I actually managed to get through the entire post; which is something I rarely do..